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LOWELL, MA – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) testified before the House Appropriations Committee about the need for long overdue federal investments in preventing combined sewage overflows (CSOs) that pollute waterways like the Merrimack River and strong support for the fusion energy research, a renewable energy source that holds unprecedented promises for America’s transition to a clean energy economy.

CLICK HERE or the image below to watch Trahan’s full testimony:

Combined sewer overflows are a product of combined sewer systems, which are in use by more than 800 communities across the nation, including many along the Merrimack River like Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill. The Merrimack River Watershed Council estimates that hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage are released into the Merrimack from urban treatment plants each year, and a recent Boston Herald report highlighted a recent discharge of 84 million gallons of wastewater and stormwater from Lowell’s combined sewage system as recently as April.

“Each time CSO events occur, we gamble with exposing our constituents to a toxic stew,” Congresswoman Trahan testified. “We can be certain that, as the climate warms and storms increase in frequency and intensity, our CSO challenge will grow worse. Please build upon the progress of the last two years and include the highest possible funding for the Sewer Overflow Control grants program.”

Earlier this year, Trahan reintroduced the Stop Sewage Overflow Act, her bipartisan legislation to expand and improve the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program, which is used to award federal grants to states and municipalities for the planning, design, and construction for combined sewer overflows. She has also successfully pushed alongside fellow federal elected officials representing communities along the Merrimack River for increased EPA investments in the grant program.

Trahan also spoke to the importance of increased federal funding for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, which invests in breakthrough fusion research that has proven especially promising in recent years. The tremendous potential benefits of fusion energy led the National Academy of Sciences to recommend the creation of a pilot fusion plant necessary for the United States to foster the research and development of the prospective renewable energy source.

“Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a spinoff from MIT, has already begun planning for a proof-of-concept plant in the Third Congressional District. I’m hopeful that America’s clean energy revolution will be born within a few miles of the birthplaces of the American Revolution and our Industrial Revolution,” Congresswoman Trahan said during her testimony. “Whatever approach proves to be the most cost-effective and technically feasible, fusion could serve as the foundation for our zero-carbon energy economy of the future. Our need for clean, emissions-free energy is a race against time – not only to prevent the worst effects of climate change, but also to ensure that the United States is the global leader in solving this challenge.”

Trahan partnered with Congressman Conor Lamb (PA-17) last year to successfully amend the Clean Energy Jobs and Innovation Act to increase federal investments in fusion research and development, a provision that was eventually included in the Energy Act of 2020 that later became law.

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